Housing assembly for sewing machines



June 6, 1961 G. MEIER HOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR SEWING MACHINES 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 1 1959 Gin/her ME/ER June 6, 1961 s. MEIERHOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR SEWING MACHINES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 19,1959 INVE/VTOI? GJn/bel MEIER United States Patent Filed June 19, '1959,Ser. No. 821,526 Claims. (Cl. 112-258) This invention relates to theassembly of a housing structure employable for accommodating therein thedrive and actuating mechanisms of a sewing machine.

It is one of the primary objects of this invention to provide meansfacilitating economical and rapid assembly of a sewing machine and inparticular its housing parts in a continuous operation as required forseries and mass productions.

It is another object of the present invention to provide means insuringthe engagement of the housing parts of the sewing machine in such amanner that the noise of the mechanism will be substantially eliminatedand the housing of the machine may be made of lightweight material sothat the transportation of the parts of the sewing machine casing to thelocation of assembly may be greatly facilitated.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide meansenvisioning an efi'icacious tight seal between the engaging or abuttingedges of the housing parts so that dust and other foreign matter may bekept out of the machine housing, while dampening of the vibrations ofthe housing parts during machine operation will be simultaneouslyreduced to a minimum.

Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide meansrendering the possibility of easily centering and aligning engageableparts of the sewing machine housing with respect to each other, so thatthe same can be handled and manipulated even by unskilled labor atgreatly reduced cost and without the requirement of any machiningoperations.

These and other objects of the invention will become further apparentfrom the following detailed description, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings showing a prefered embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows in an exploded view the parts of a housing of a sewingmachine prior to their assembly.

FIG. 2 shows a view similar to FIG. 1 of the housing seen in perspectiveand in assembled condition.

The housing of a sewing machine is generally made from light-weightmetal which is manufactured by dieor pressure-casting.

In such cases it becomes also necessary that access or openings areprovided which are closed later on during assembly work by a cover.Generally the cover is also made by die-casting which contributes to arelatively high cost of production of such housings.

In order to reduce the manufacturing cost, it was heretofore proposed toproduce the top cover and a lateral closure of the housing as a singleand integral part. When such closure cover is fixed in position on thehollow arin of a sewing machine, there 'have been observed in theclosure cover stresses which sometimes, if the cover is equipped with acarrying handle, exceed in admissible values of strength.

The present invention does away with these and other disadvantages andachieves an efiicacious construction of a cover with handle attachmentwhich eliminates completely any stresses or strains acting on themachine cover.

In accordance with the invention, two abutment or bearing blocks areprovided having surfaces for engaging the'cover which carries on itsupper surface recesses arranged for accommodating the carrierhandle,while all Patented June 6, 1961 other parts are kept in assembledposition by means of screws passing through threaded bores in theaforesaid surfaces of the bearing blocks.

A particular advantage of this novel construction is that the connectionbetween the housing and its cover may leave a gap or cleft, whereby itwill not be required that the engaging edges of the parts be subjectedto any machining or shaping operations which entails considerable costreduction and simplification in such manufacture. The aforesaid gapformation may, however, be readily tight-sealed by an intermediate layerof rubber or other suitable yieldable material. The tightening orsealing material contributes then simultaneously to the dampening ofnoises often caused by running mechanisms and parts of the sewingmachine.

Referring now in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, there isdisclosed a housing 1 for a sewing machine having a base plate 2, anupright standard 3 and a substantially hollow arm 4 terminating in ahead 5. This frame-shaped housing is open at the top at 6 and at therear of the arm 4 at 7 and further at the front end at 22. This openframe 30 receives the usual drive mechanism including a drive shaft (notshown) which extends through the bearings 9, 10 of the bearing blocks 9aand 10a. On top of these bearing blocks are arranged abutment extensions11 and 12 provided with threaded bores 20 and 21 for a purpose laterdescribed. The open frame 30, namely the open standard 3, the horizontalarm 4 and head 5 are closed by a closeure cover 8 which is so placed onthe open frame 30 that the side edges 8a of the cover come to lie forabutment against upper end edges 4a and 3a respectively, of framehousing 30, whereby bores 18 and 19 provided in cover 8 register withthreaded bores 20 and 21 of the bearing blocks 9a and 101: respectively.Cover 8 is substantially U-shaped in cross section and has on its topsurface a large recess 31 and two elongated recesses 14, 15 throughwhich bores 18 and 1 extend. The elongated slots or recesses 14, 15 arespaced from recess 31 and terminate in open ends at walls 8b andrespectively.

When cover 8 is brought into engagement with frame 30 at its edges 3a,4a it is preferred to place on the latter a rubber strip or similarsealing material in order to close the cover tightly on frame 30.Positioned in recesses 14 and 15 and extending across recess 31 is ahandle 13 shaped to fit with its projections 13a, 13b recesses 14 and15. Handle 13 is further provided with.

two spaced apart bores 17 through which may be inserted screw bolts 16which in turn extend through bores 18 and 19 for engagement with thethreaded bores 20 and 21 of the bearing blocks 9a, 10a.

The surface of handle 13 is provided with a longitudinal groove 25 inwhich may be fitted a cover strip 26 made from metal or similarmaterial, which in turn may be fastened to handle grip 13 by means ofscrews 27. Thus the heads of screw bolts 16 may be well covered and arenot readily accessible from the outside of the machine frame.

From FIG. 2 it will become apparent that when handle grip 13 is fastenedin place the median part of handle 13 bridges recess 31, which is wideenough between walls 8b and 80 to accommodate the hand of an operatorfor carrying the machine frame.

The front end 8d of cover 8 and the corresponding end edge 23a of frontcover 23 may be so conformed and constructed that front cover 23 may behinged (by the.

engagement of hook 23b with opening 230) at the front edge 8d in anyappropriate manner so that front cover closing the opening 22 othersuitable fastener 3 through opening 24a of front cover 23 for engagementwith threaded bore 24b provided in end edge a of frame 30.

The width of handle 13 and of its projections 13a, 13b.

is such that the same fit the elongated slots or recesses 14, and abutthe respective bottoms 8e of the respective recesses 14, 15. The medianpart of handle 13 may have substantially any suitable configuration. Inthe present instance the cover strip 26 overlying the heads of screwbolts 16 extends beyond the outermost ends of handle 13 and thus fixesalready handle 13 in its desired position in recesses 14, 15.

The edges 3a, 4a, 5a on the one hand defining the standard, thehorizontal arm and the head do not need any machining and also thecorresponding edges 8a of cover 8 do not have to be shaped or machined,as a rubber or like strip material when inserted between the aforesaidedges will be sufiicient to tightly seal the interior of the housingagainst the admission of dust particles and the like and simultaneouslycontributeto dampening the noise of the machine mechanism. It is furtherto be noted that the machine housing frame and/or its cover embodyingthe invention may be made not only from light-weight metal but also fromany other suitable resinous material or composition thereof whichaffords sufi'lcient strength and withstands stresses generally emanatingfrom multicam control mechanisms. Assembly and disassembly of the sewingmachine housing parts may be readily had and the set-in handle 13contributes to the strengthening of the cover and does not disturb thestreamlined appearance of the assembled housing.

It can thus be seen that there has been provided in adcordance with theinvention a sewing machine housing assembly comprising a hollow framehaving edges defin= ing a hollow standard, a horizontal arm and head, acover therefor terminating in edges conformed to corresponding edges ofsaid frame for engagement therewith,

at least two bearing blocks recessed in said horizontal arm and providedwith abutment faces, said cover havrespective aligned holes for registrywith threaded bores provided in said abutment faces, fastening meansinserted through said holes of said projections and of said elongatedrecesses to and aflixing said handle grip in position on said cover andthe latter in edge to edge abutment position with saidframe, said handlegrip being provided with an elongated groove extending substantiallyover the entire top surface of said handle grip, and means overing a topsurface provided with two aligned elongated recesses each with a bottomsurface and a central cavity separating said recesses, a handle gripprovided with projections fitting said bottom surfaces of said elongatedrecesses and bridging said central cavity, said projections and saidelongated recesses being provided with respective aligned holes forregistry with threaded bores provided in said abutment faces, wherebyfastening means may be inserted through said holes of said projectionsand of said elongated recesses to afiix said handle grip in position onsaid cover and the latter in edge to edge abutment position with saidframe, said handle grip being provided with an elongated grooveextending over the entire top surface of said handle grip, and meansoverlyingsaid holes and said fastening means and anchored in saidelongated groove.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention and it is intended that suchobvious changes and modifications be embraced by the annexed claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A sewing machine housing assembly comprising a hollow frame havingedges defining a hollow standard, a horizontal arm and head, a covertherefor terminating in edges conformed to corresponding. edges of saidframe for engagement therewith, at least two spaced apart and parallelbearing blocks recessed in said horizontal arm and provided withabutment faces, said cover having a top' surface provided with twoaligned elongated recesses each with a bottom surface and a centralcavity separating said recesses, a handle grip provided with projectionsabutting said bottom surfaces of said elongated recesses and bridgingsaid central cavity, said projections and'said bottom surfaces of saidelongated-recesses heing'provided witlf lying said holes and saidfastening means and anchored in said elongated groove. v

2. A sewing machine housing assembly comprising a hollow frameterminating in edges defining a hollow standard,-an elongated horizontalarm and head, a cover therefor having corresponding edges for engagingsaid edges of said frame, two hearing blocks supported in and extendingtransversely of said horizontal arm and provived with upright abutmentprojections, said cover being provided on the top surface thereof withtwo aligned spaced apart elongated recesses, each having a bottomsurface and a central cavity between said recesses, a handle gripprovided withprojections fitting said elongated recesses and bridgingsaid central cavity, said projections and said bottom surfaces of saidelongated recesses being provided with aligned holes for registry withthreaded bores provided in said abutment projections,- and fasteningmeans inserted through said holes of said projections of said handlegrip and of said bottom surfaces of said elongated recesses to aflixsaid handle grip in position in said cover, said cover being in edge toedge engagement with said frame.

3. An assembly according to claim 2, said elongated recesses of saidcover extending in lengthwise direction of the latter, said cavity beingoriented in crosswise direction to said recesses.

4. An assembly according to claim 2, wherein said handle grip isprovided with an elongated groove extend ing beyond said holes, a coverstrip located in said groove, and means for holding in place said coverstrip and overlying said fastening means.

5. In a sewing machine having a hollow, elongated arm frame defined bywalls, a cover fitted on said arm frame walls and an elongated handleengaged on said cover; two bearing blocks mounted in spaced apartresubstantially transversely and parallel to each other thereacross,thereby to prop the Walls of said frame, engageable means mounted on topof said bearing blocks, said frame cover being provided with a topsurface having spaced apart, elongated recesses each provided with abottom surface, a depression located in said top surface and bet-weensaid elongated recesses and directed transversely thereto, said handlehaving a middle section overlying said depression and two end sectionsabutting said bottom surfaces in said recesses and provided withperforations, the bottom surfaces of said'recesses being provided withbores in' registry with said perforations and said engageable means,fastening means extending from said bottom surfaces through saidperforations and said bores and anchored in said engage-able means, saidhandle having a longitudinal groove extending into the top surface ofsaid handle, and'strip r neans fitted in said groove and extending.substantially-flush with said' top surface.

said strip means abuttingsaid fastening means in said bottom surfaces,thereby to contact said fastemngmeans 2,407,763 Northetal Sept. 17,194'6 2,45s;754 Wallace Jan. 11, 1949 2,678,011 Peers" a a1. l May 111954 2,724,355 Heimann' Nov. 22, 1955

